Transfixed
by Lovely-Lina1985
Summary: Ginny Weasley's Experiences with Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets during her first year.
1. Dinnertime Daydreams

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Transfixed

Ginny's Experiences with Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets

Synopsis: Basically, the events of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are retold from Ginny's POV. Ginny's thoughts are in italics, and writing in the journal will be in different colours.

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, I don't own most of the characters that will be used in this FF, and it's based on events from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. If you have any questions, PM or email me.

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Chapter 1: Dinnertime Daydreams

Ginny Weasley sat at the kitchen table daydreaming and idly pushing her peas around on her plate. She only listened half-heartedly to the conversations her family was having, as her mind kept drifting back to a certain dark-haired boy. 

__

'I'm so glad I'm going to Hogwarts this year. I'll bet I get to spend a lot of time with him, since he's friends with my brother and all. I might even be able to sit with them at meals. I'll have to ask Ron if that would be ok. Hmm…I think I'll let him think that I'm nervous and don't want to sit with someone I don't know. I wonder if our hands would touch if I passed Harry the bread basket…I should make sure to keep my nails looking nice, just in case…Which is better, I wonder, pink or red polish…maybe red…' 

She woke up from her daydream when she noticed Percy was complaining to their mother about waking up that morning to find his bed had been moved up onto the roof. Glancing at her mom, Ginny saw her grit her teeth, turn a little in her chair and stare at Ginny's twin brothers who were sitting at the other end of the table. The boys were pretending not to notice her, and shovelled food into their mouths.

'_This should be interesting'_ Ginny thought, glancing back and forth from her mother to Fred and George. None of them were saying anything, and she began to wonder who would speak first. 

"Ah-hem." Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and glared at the boys. Ginny could see them struggling not to laugh, and the effort was making their faces turn a funny purple colour. 

"Good potatoes, eh Fred?"

"Definitely the best I've ever had George."

"What do you suppose is in this gravy?"

"My best guess would be a bit of chicken broth."

"Interesting. What do you think Ron?"

Before Ron could say anything, Mrs. Weasley threw her napkin onto the table and stood up, towering over the table, casting a threatening shadow over the culprits. 

"Boys! I want an explanation this instant!"

Putting on brave faces, Fred and George turned and faced their mother. _'Let's see how they get out of this one.'_

"We couldn't help but do it, Mum. His poor bed was complaining about never getting to go anywhere--"

"--The sad little thing is stuck in Percy's room day after day. It needed to get out for a while--"

"--We felt so bad for it, having to share a room with Percy and all, that we wanted to help it--"

"--So we flew it out the window once Percy was asleep--"

"--You should have seen it Mum…it kept thanking us, and thanking us."

"My bed does not talk!" Percy said indignantly.

"Of course it does," Fred said.

"You just need to know the right spell to make it able to be understood," George added.

"That is no reason to put your brother's bed on the roof! He could have fallen and broken his neck!" Mrs. Weasley said, patting Percy's head protectively and spooning more mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"But Mum, we had to put him on the roof. We would have put him in the garden, but his bed would have been infested with gnomes in ten minutes."

"We couldn't very well let that happen. The bed's been through enough already."

"Percy's bed shouldn't have been moved anywhere!" She exploded, causing the pitcher of pumpkin juice she was summoning to spill onto her plate. Without noticing, she said "I will have no more spells cast on his bed, or any other article of furniture in your brother's room. Do you understand?"

Fred and George nodded, and looked down at the table.

__

'They must be hiding something.' Ginny thought. _'They wouldn't give in that easily if they weren't. I wonder what it is.'_

"Now," her mother was saying, "go up to your room and stay there the rest of the evening."

They stood up and turned to leave just as Percy asked "Shouldn't they have to apologize to me?" 

Fred and George paused, looked at each other, then turned to Percy. "We're sorry your bed doesn't like you Percy." They said together, then ran up to their room before their mom could say anything.

Ginny chuckled. _'I would have loved to see Percy's bed being put on the roof. I wish they'd let me in on their jokes once in a while.'_

Once she heard the twin's bedroom door close, Mrs. Weasley sat back down in her chair and Ginny thought she heard her muttering "Just one more month, Molly, one more month. Then off to school again."

Percy soon began talking again, and Ginny once again retreated into her thoughts. 

__

'I hope I don't get sorted into a different house than Gryffindor. If I do, I'll never get to see Harry.' A slight blush spread on her cheeks as she thought his name, and she smiled to herself. _'I can't believe I'm going to be going to the same school as Harry Potter! I'll probably be really popular because he's friends with Ron. That's good. I wouldn't want to be unpopular. Being associated with Harry will most likely mean people will know who I am. Once they know who I am, I think they'll like me. Then I'll have lots of friends. Only one more month to wait!'_

All of a sudden, a big ball of fluff fell into Ginny's plate. Shocked out of her musings, she looked down to see the family owl Errol sitting on her roast beef, looking confused and covered in potatoes.

"It's about time that ruddy bird got back. I sent him off a week ago." Ron reached across the table and plucked him out of Ginny's plate. "What the heck. Harry didn't even write back!" 

Ginny's head snapped up and she stared at Ron, feeling her face go a little red. _'What's that he said about Harry?'_

"The poor thing probably wound up dropping your letter or forgetting where it was supposed to go, dear. Harry would have written back if he had gotten your letter." Mrs Weasley said as she took the owl from Ron and put him into the sink to wash the food off of him.

"No Mum. Harry hasn't written once all summer. Hermione hasn't heard from him at all either."

"Nonsense dear, I'm sure he'll write back. He's probably just busy spending time with his family," she said.

"Those people can't be called his family," Ron muttered. "If Percy would just let me borrow Hermes, I could be sure my letters were getting to him, then we'd know why he isn't answering."

Percy looked at Ron like he was asking the most impossible thing in the world. "You can't borrow Hermes. I need him for delivering my own letters."

"Come on Percy, please?" Ron asked.

"No. There's nothing wrong with Errol. He's a perfectly fine bird, and there's no reason to take Hermes when you already have an owl you can use." Percy stood up and walked out of the kitchen, as if to say that there was nothing more to be said on the issue.

"Mum, can't you make Percy loan me Hermes?"

"Oh, Ron dear, Hermes is Percy's owl and I can't make him loan it to you. You'll either have to work something out with your brother or use Errol." Mrs. Weasley dried her hands on her apron and kissed Ron on the forehead. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about sweetie. He might be off on vacation somewhere or busy with his muggle friends. He'll write back soon." 

__

'She sounds like she's trying to convince herself that what she's saying is true,' Ginny thought.

Mrs Weasley left, holding the wet owl under her arm, to go put him into the barn. Ron sat across from Ginny with a crease in his forehead as he thought about what was just said. A couple minutes passed in silence, then Ron glanced up and noticed Ginny was still in the room. They were the only ones left in the kitchen.

"What do you think Ginny?" he asked. "Do you think Harry's just busy?"

She felt her face flush and her stomach flip-flopped. 

"I, uh, I think there might be something wrong. Harry seems like he would answer a letter no matter how busy he was."

Ron looked at her strangely for a second, then nodded and left her alone in the room.

A worried look spread over Ginny's face as she watched her brother leave.

__

'Oh no…does Ron know? I'd better watch what I say about Harry.'

The kitchen was silent as she sat distressing over the thought that Ron might know about her feelings. It wasn't until the silence was broken by a load boom from the twin's room echoed down to the kitchen, followed by loud laughter. Sighing, Ginny stood up and went upstairs to see what was going on.


	2. Late Night Conversations

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, I don't own most of the characters that will be used in this FF, and it's based on events from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. If you have any questions, PM or email me.

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Chapter 2: Late Night Conversations

Ginny knocked on the twin's bedroom door. She smiled. I t was obvious from the bustling noises within that they were trying to hide whatever they were working on before they opened the door. _'They must think I'm Mum.'_

"Come on guys, open up. It's Ginny."

The noises lessened inside. After a moment, the door opened and George stuck his head into the hall. "What do you want Gin?" he asked.

"I want to come in."

Fred's head appeared above George's. "Why, what's up Ginny?"

Becoming frustrated, Ginny put her hands on her hips and frowned a little bit. "Nothing's up. I just wanted to hang out with you."

Fred and George looked at each other, contemplating whether or not to let her in.

__

'Why can't they understand I want to spend some time with them?' she thought. _'What do I have to say to convince them of that?'_ Inspiration struck a second later. "You know what guys, I might just go spend time with Percy." 'That_ got their attention.'_ "I've been meaning to get his opinion on how I should behave when I get to Hogwarts."

Without a word, the twins opened the door and pulled Ginny inside. _'Success!'_

"You are a sly one sometimes Ginny," Fred said as he closed the door again.

"What are we going to do with you, young lady?" George said, imitating Mrs. Weasley to perfection.

Laughing, Ginny sat down on one of the twin's beds, then stood up in alarm a second later as something popped. Sparks were flying out from underneath the quilt, and there were bits of some seeping through thin parts of the blanket.

"Oh no!"

Fred and George both lunged for the bed, wands drawn. They pulled off the blanket and threw it aside, revealing a pile of quills and ink bottles, one of which had broken. Fred shoved all the ink bottles one way and the quills the other as George cast spells on the spreading puddle of ink, where the sparks seemed to be coming from.

"What the heck is going on?" Ginny yelled. She was busy jumping up and down on the quilt, trying to put out the small fire that had sprung up on it.

"You sat on one of the bottles of 'Stink Ink'…it mixed a couple of 'Ill Quills'…then - trouble." George called bits of information in her direction between spells and counter curses.

__

'Uh-oh' "What do you mean, 'Stink Ink'?" Then, just as the words left her mouth, a dreadfully pungent odour reached her. She covered her face with her hands and tried not to throw up.

The next couple minutes were chaos, and Ginny stood wedged into the corner while her brothers worked. When the mess had been cleaned and the windows propped open, Fred and George beckoned her out of the corner and they sat on the floor.

"I…uh…I…" Ginny stammered, trying to put into words the hundreds of questions running through her head. "HOW?"

The twins smirked, and leaned in, like they were sharing a big secret.

"Well, Percy's been driving us up the wall with his incessant ramblings about being a prefect--"

"--And we figure he needs to know that there are more important things in life than being a self-absorbed prig--"

"--So we've been working on some little gifts to leave him--"

"--Like the 'Stink Ink'."

Ginny chuckled. "Ok, so what exactly is 'Stink Ink'?"

"It's only one of our best inventions yet!" George told her, puffing his chest out proudly.

"It certainly stinks, but how does it work?"

The twins leaned in even closer and barely spoke above a whisper.

"Well, you see Gin, we made it to react to special quills, or 'Ill Quills' as we like to call them. Both the quills and the ink will work perfectly fine on it's own, but when you use them together, the ink sends of sparks, and after a minute or two, the smell comes and won't go away unless you know the right spell."

"We haven't perfected it yet. When it's finished, I'll only react when Percy writes the word 'prefect'. We're also trying to make the sparks spell out something, like 'Plug your Nose' or something."

"That's funny. Can I help?" Ginny asked, getting really excited. The twins didn't generally explain their pranks to her.

"What can you do Ginny? You're only eleven. You haven't even taken lessons in magic."

"You don't even have a wand yet."

Ginny pouted and looked at her lap. _'Just because I can't do any of the actual magic doesn't mean I don't have anything to offer. I'm just as smart as they are.'_ "Why won't you let me help? Percy annoys me too. I don't need to be able to do magic to help out. I have a lot of ideas. I --"

"Oy, mates, I need your advice." Ron walking into the room and sat down next to Ginny.

__

'Why do they let Ron come in whenever he wants and make me wait in the hall until I have to trick my way inside?'

"I just got another letter from Hermione, and she's getting really worried about Harry. She says she's written him a dozen letters since the holidays started, and he hasn't written back once. She agrees with me that there's something wrong, cause no matter how busy he was, Harry'd answer a letter."

Ginny's stomach filled with butterflies. _'There's something wrong with Harry? I God, I hope he's all right.'_

"What do you think is wrong?" George was asking. 

"I don't know. I've just got a bad feeling about it all, and I can't just sit here waiting for Harry to write back. I need to see him and make sure everything's ok." Ron was obviously agitated. His foot was shaking very fast, like it was itching to run to Harry's house.

"How do you plan on seeing him?" The boys were completely ignoring Ginny, and she was left to listen and think over what was going on.

__

'How does he plan on seeing Harry? Does he think it situation is really so bad that it would require him to go?'

"I don't know how to see him. That's why I need your advice." Ron's foot kept shaking, going faster and faster as they talked.

The twins leaned back and thought for a minute.

"Floo powder?"

"Can't. Harry lives in a muggle house. It wouldn't be on the network." Ron said.

"Knight bus?"

"Don't have the money for it. And it makes me sick." Ron's foot was shaking so fast it was making Ginny sick trying to focus on it.

"Brooms?"

"It'd take days to get there on our old brooms." Ron sighed.

__

'Poor Ron. He looks so worried. There has to be another way to get there.'

"What about muggles?" Ginny asked, speaking for the first time since Ron came in. "How do muggles travel?"

"Buses, trains and cars mostly." Ron mumbled, not really paying attention.

"CARS!" Fred yelled.

"What?" Ron, George and Ginny jumped at the outburst. "What are you talking about?"

"Muggles use cars to get places, right? Well, I happen to know of a certain enchanted car sitting out in the garage that no one will miss for a few hours."

George's eyes lit up, understanding what his brother was implying. "That's brilliant Fred! We can take Dad's car!"

Ron sat up with an excited look on his face, but Ginny was filled with disbelief. "You can't take Dad's car! It's not even supposed to be able to fly," she said. "If you get caught, not only will you guys be in big trouble, but Dad could be fined or even fired for messing with Muggle things."

Her brothers turned and stared at her. "How could we be caught?" George asked. "It's already after eleven, and it's so dark and overcast outside that people couldn't see us if they wanted to."

"Yeah Ginny. We have to go, it's like a mission. Harry could be in trouble. Don't you care about him?" Fred added.

Ginny felt her face turning red. "Of course I, uh, care about, ahem, Harry."

__

'Oh great, now they're all staring at me weirdly. They can't know I like him, can they. I've been really careful to hide it.' "What?" She asked. "I just don't want you guys to get in trouble."

"We won't get caught Ginny." Fred looked at Ron. "What do you think? Should we take the car?"

Ron didn't even hesitate before he said yes.

Before Ginny knew it, Ron, Fred and George had left her alone in the twin's room and were sneaking out to the garage. Running to the window, she watched the twins push the car out of the garage and out to the road while Ron watched the house for signs of Mrs. Weasley. 

__

'They must be pushing it away from the house so Mum won't hear when they start it.'

When the car was a bit away from the house, her brother's climbed in a waved good bye to her as they drove off down the road, slowly rising into the air until the car's headlights were only a tiny speck that could easily be mistaken for a muggle airplane.

__

'I wish they wouldn't treat me like a child. I'm about to start school. I'm not a kid anymore.' She turned away from the window and looked around the twin's room. The piles of 'Stink Ink' bottles and 'Ill Quills' were visible from underneath George's bed. _'And why on earth won't they let me help with their prank on Percy? The last time I was involved in one of their pranks was last September when they sent home that toilet seat from Hogwarts, along with the notices that had been posted in the dorms asking for it back. And I didn't even do anything then. I just got the toilet seat in the mail.'_

Ginny knelt down and started rummaging under George's bed, pulling out a bottle of the ink and a quill. Taking a piece of parchment off of their desk, she was about to write when she remembered the results of using the 'Stink Ink'. Instead, she ran to her room, using her own ink and quill, and scribbled out a quick message. 

Returning to Fred and George's room, she placed the note on Fred's bed, laying one of their quills and a bottle of 'Stink Ink' next to it. Her note read:

'Why don't you guys try having the sparks spell out 'PREFECTS STINK'. That ought to get your point across, and it ties in with the odour. 

Ginny.

P.S. - Still think I don't have anything to contribute?'

Happy with her note and her idea for the prank, Ginny left the twin's room shutting the door behind her. She was climbing up the stairs to her room to go to bed, but paused outside Percy's room. Voices were arguing inside. Curious, Ginny placed her ear against the door and tried to hear who was in there.

"Shut up! I need to get some sleep!" Percy was saying. "Prefects need to be well rested!"

"Why don't you want to talk to me? I've been so nice to you all these years. And you weigh so much too! And another thing, why haven't you changed by sheets in so long. I notice you change your pyjamas every night…"

Stifling a laugh, Ginny realized Percy's bed was still enchanted to talk, and the twins were forbidden from changing anything else about Percy's furniture. 

__

'It'll be talking Percy's ear off until he can figure out the counter-curse.' Ginny continued up to her room._ 'Now, as long as they don't get caught going to Harry's and get everyone into trouble, everything will be fine.'_


	3. Harry Comes

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, I don't own most of the characters that will be used in this FF, and it's based on events from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. If you have any questions, PM or email me.

~~~~~~~~~~

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Chapter 3: Harry Comes

Ginny's bedroom was filled with feminine-looking furniture. Her headboard was covered with carved flowers, a table in the corner was being used as a vanity, and a white painted wardrobe stood against the far wall. Crocheted blankets covered the bed and lacy curtains swayed in the breeze. Instead of posters, old family portraits adorned the walls.

Over all, the small room was a cozy haven for the girl, and though it was by no mean richly furnished, it was comfortable and possibly the least shabby room in the house.

While her brothers were away at school, Ginny learned to knit, sew, paint and embroider, and she put her skills to work making repairs to her blankets and curtains, painting over scratches in her furniture, even mending and decorating her robes. She wasn't ashamed of her family's financial troubles, but she did want to do what she could to help them out. Over summer vacations, she'd mend her brother's robes too, but they never seemed to notice. Evidence of Ginny's efforts was apparent throughout the house, if you took the time to notice, but the young girl's hard work was most evident in her own small room.

It's in this room that Ginny lay an hour after her brother's left. She wasn't sleeping, but laying on her stomach, leaning over a leather-bound scrap book. Pasted onto the pages were clipping from the Daily Prophet, articles about You-Know-Who's defeat at Hogwarts at the end of the last school year. The stories had been twisted around and exaggerated quite a bit, but Ginny didn't care, because there were plenty of pictures of the students who had stopped the Dark Lord, and that was more important to her. Her brother Ron and his friends Harry and Hermione Granger smiled up at her. 

__

'Harry's so brave,' she thought, gazing at a picture of him posing with Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. _'I'd be scared to death of facing You-Know-Who, but he did it all by himself. Ron and that Hermione girl helped a bit, I know, but in the end, it was all Harry. Strong, brave, handsome Harry…'_

Ginny's thoughts began to drift off into slumber as she rested her head next to the album She closed her eyes and fell asleep, not seeing one of Harry's pictures blow her a kiss.

Waking up the next morning, Ginny gazed around, wondering why she had slept in her clothes. Still half asleep, she changed into a purple plaid kilt and a blouse, ran a brush through her hair, then bounded out of her room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. 

Without looking up, she grabbed a piece of toast from a plate on the table and took a big bite out of it, causing crumbs to spill down onto her blouse. Wanting some juice, she glanced up to find the pitcher when her eyes locked onto a dark haired boy sitting at the table with her brothers. Feeling her body freeze up, Ginny filled with panic.

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'Harry Potter is here - In our kitchen - say something Ginny - say something!'

"Hi there."

__

'Did Harry Potter just talk to me? He did! Come on Ginny! Say something NOW!'

"Err…"

Without realizing what she was doing, Ginny spun around and ran back to her room.

"Blast!" she exclaimed. "Why did I run away? Why didn't I say anything? He'll never like me now! He's just going to think I'm a stupid baby!"

Angrily throwing herself onto her bed, she yelped when she hit her head against something hard. Feeling around, her hand found the scrap book sticking out from beneath a pillow. Seeing it only made her feel worse, and Ginny could feel tears gathering in her eyes.

She sobbed, with her forehead leaning on the book. A small puddle was forming on it's cover. _'My life is ruined. How can I go to school now? I'll never be able to look at him again!'_

"Ginny?" Someone was knocking on her door. "Are you alright?"

"Can we come in?"

__

'Fred and George - great. They'll just tease me about Harry and make me feel even worse.'

They kept knocking. Ginny sat up and wiped her eyes. Sniffling, she called out "Come in."

The door opened and the twins stepped in. A look of concern flickered over their faces, but was gone a second later. They didn't say anything.

"Out with it then," Ginny said. "Let's hear it."

"Out with what?"

"What's there to hear?"

"All your jokes about Harry, that's what."

"Harry?" George asked.

"What would we joke about Harry for?"

Ginny shoved the scrap book under her pillow, then turned to look at them. _'They don't seem to be joking. What could they want then?'_

"What are you here for then?"

"We liked your idea for the 'Stink Ink'. It was pretty good." Fred told her, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Ginny felt a little smile forming on her face. "Does that mean I can help with the prank?"

"Uh, yeah…but not too much, ok?"

"We can't risk being overshadowed by you and your ideas."

__

'What's going on with them. They know I couldn't overshadow them when it comes to jokes and pranks.' Grim realization dawned on Ginny. _'They must feel bad for me, cause I just made a fool of myself. They're trying to cheer me up!'_

Ginny forced a small laugh. It was nice that they were trying to keep her from thinking about Harry, but she knew she couldn't avoid the topic forever. _'May as well face it now, while they're being nice to be and won't tease.'_ "I was pretty surprised to see Harry in the kitchen." She said softly, doing her best to sound normal. "Why's he here?"

George sat down on the bed next to Fred. "We drove over to him house, and were about to land in their driveway when Ron noticed that there were bars over Harry's bedroom window. We're not used to muggle behaviour or anything, but we knew that wasn't normal, so we pulled up next to his window and looked in."

"It was terrible. There were screws sticking out of the door like someone had put a bunch of locks on it in a hurry, and a funny flap was on the bottom for food to be pushed through. Harry woke up then. Heard the car's engine I guess. He was being held captive by his own family. We had to get him out of there."

"What did you do?" Ginny was becoming too absorbed in the story to care about how silly she had been earlier.

"We pulled the bars off the window. Had to tie them to the bumper to get the silly things off. Then Fred and I climbed through to help Harry get his stuff together. We must have made too much noise, cause his uncle woke up and barged into the room just as we were helping Harry into the car. Almost didn't make it. His uncle was so mad, he reached out and grabbed Harry's leg. We really had to pull to get him all the way into the car."

"Smooth sailing after that, until we got home anyway. Mum found out we weren't here and was waiting for us when we came in. She yelled something fierce!--"

"--We have to de-gnome the garden--"

"--But she's calmed down a lot when we told her why we had to go. She likes Harry more than she likes us, I think."

Ginny laughed. Her mom would have probably gone with the boys if she had known how bad things had been. "You're lucky you're not in more trouble! De-gnoming the garden isn't too bad."

"That's true. If she'd really wanted to punish us, she would have made us spend time with Percy." Fred said.

"That'd be terrible!" George agreed. "He'd probably lecture us about the results of hard work, or the benefits of good behaviour.

"Yeah, he'd talk and talk until our ears fell off!"

Ginny laughed at the thought. "I don't think Percy will want to be doing much talking for a while. Apparently, his bed has a liking for late night conversations."

"Oh, it's such a pity we're not allowed to do anything else to his furniture. We were going to enchant Percy's desk as well, but I guess we'll just have to wait."

"You want to come out and watch us do the de-gnoming Ginny? Ron and Harry are going to be helping us. It'll be a lot of fun."

__

'Oh yeah, Harry's still here.' Still a little embarrassed, wondered if she should go watch. _'Harry's going to be here for a while I guess. I'll just keep to my room until I feel a bit better.'_

"Thanks anyway guys, but I think I'm going to hang out in here for a while if that's ok."

Fred and George smiled at her.

"That's ok Gin. You can come down later if you change your mind."

The twins left her alone and ran to find Harry and Ron. Feeling a bit better about the situation, and actually a little happy that Harry was going to be staying with them the rest of the summer, Ginny brought her desk chair over to the window and sat down, looking at the four boys throwing gnomes over the fence. They were laughing and joking with each other, unaware of the red head watching them from the third floor window.


	4. Diagon Alley

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, I don't own most of the characters that will be used in this FF, and it's based on events from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. If you have any questions, PM or email me.

~~~~~~~~~~

****

Chapter 4: Diagon Alley

Harry had been staying in the Weasley household for almost a week when the Hogwarts letters arrived one morning during breakfast. Harry and Ron had just walked into the kitchen as Ginny was helping herself to more porridge. Seeing Harry enter, she jumped, knocking her bowl off the table. She felt herself blushing, but didn't run away. She had learned that it was easier and less embarrassing to pretend nothing was wrong. No one noticed her blushes, or if they did, they pretended not to see.

The mail flew in the window while Ginny was picking up her bowl from the floor.

"School letters are here." Mr. Weasley picked up the bundle and passed the letters around. Taking her letter, Ginny broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the papers

'Dear Miss Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress'

Ginny had known she'd be going to Hogwarts, just like her parents and brothers, but it was an amazing feeling to get accepted. For a moment, she forgot her nervousness about Harry and the want of her brother's acceptance. For a brief moment, she was just Ginny Weasley, a girl about to go away to school for the first time, ready to make a name for herself. She could be and do anything she wanted.

Then Ginny heard the others discussing how much their supplies would cost.

"…won't come cheap…"

"…we'll manage…"

All thoughts of distinction quickly left her head as Ginny looked at the second page of her letter.

'All first years will require the following:

Uniform

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

(All pupils' clothes should carry name tags)

Books

'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)' by Miranda Goshawk

'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot

'Magical Theory' by Adalbert Waffling

'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' by Emeric Switch

'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' by Phyllida Spore

'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger

'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scammander

'Break with a Banshee' by Gilderoy Lockhart

'Gadding with Ghouls' by Gilderoy Lockhart

'Holidays with Hags' by Gilderoy Lockhart

'Travels with Trolls' by Gilderoy Lockhart

'Voyages with Vampires' by Gilderoy Lockhart

'Wanderings with Werewolves' by Gilderoy Lockhart

'Year with the Yeti' by Gilderoy Lockhart

Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales'

__

'Merlin, this is a lot of stuff!' she thought. _'And this doesn't even include potion ingredients or parchment and ink, not to mention clothes for underneath my robes.'_

Ginny had been saving her money for almost a year, after seeing how much her parents had to spend last year when Ron started school. She wanted to pay for her own supplies, but after saving for so long, she wasn't sure she'd be able to pay for everything on her list. _'Why are there so many books this year? Ron's list wasn't this long last year.'_

It was decided that they would all leave for Diagon Alley in an hour, so Ginny went upstairs to get ready. Putting on a grey skirt and white blouse underneath her nicest black robe, she took a little leather bag from a drawer in her dresser and tied it to her belt. All her money was in that pouch. 12 Sickles and 14 Knuts, the most money she had ever had at one time. Taking her list of supplies and putting it into her pocket, Ginny went downstairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Percy, Ron and Harry were already in the living room. Standing aside, Ginny watched as Ron stepped into the fireplace and went to Diagon Alley by using Floo Powder. Harry looked startled when Ron disappeared into the flames. 

__

'Why is Harry scared? The Floo Powder won't hurt him.'

Harry stepped into the fireplace next, his hand shaking as her took some Floo Powder from the bowl. Taking a deep breath, he threw the powder down, said "Diagonnilly", and disappeared.

"Oh no…did he just say Diagonnilly?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I think so. He definitely mumbled. We'd better hurry after him and hope he hasn't gone to far astray." Mr. Weasley entered the fireplace, pulling Ginny in with him, and the next thing she knew, they were tumbling out of a fireplace in the middle of a robe shop. She'd travelled by Floo Powder quite a lot, so the experience was nothing new, but she still hated the fact that she got covered in soot every time she went anywhere. 

Ron came over and helped them brush off the soot, asking questions at the same time. 

"Where's Harry? I thought he was going to come next."

Mr. Weasley explained to him what had happened, pausing to help his wife out of the fireplace before the twins came through and landed on her. Once they were all through, they left the robe shop and began to look for Harry. Everyone was nervous, but did their best to hide it. Ron met Hermione along the way and quickly told her what happened. They were about to separate into search parties when Harry was seen walking through the crowded street towards them, covered from head to foot in ashes, with his glasses broken and his robes torn.

Relief flooded through Ginny, and she wanted nothing more than to run to Harry and hug him, but instead, she stood behind her dad and watched while Harry explained what happened. He had come out in a shop in Knockturn Alley, and if he had not been seen by the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, he could have been in a lot of trouble with the people there. 

Happy that Harry was safe, the family split up to do their shopping, deciding to meet later that day in Flourish and Blotts. Mr. Weasley and Ginny spent the next hour buying her school supplies. It had taken her a while to convince him to let her pay for her things, but in the end, Mr. Weasley gave in and let Ginny pay. She was fitted for new robes (the first new robes she'd had in 2 years), measured in every possible way while shopping for her wand, and by the time they left to meet the others, Ginny and her dad had their arms full of packages and bundles.

Mrs. Weasley and the twins were already inside Flourish and Blotts when they got there, holding quite a few packages themselves. Harry, Ron and Hermione, who was probably with them, hadn't arrived yet. 

"Look Ginny, Gilderoy Lockhart is here signing autographs!" Mrs. Weasley was saying. "I wish I had known, I would have brought my copy of 'Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests'." Mrs. Weasley thought Lockhart was the best thing in the world lately, believing anything that he said in his books. 

Ron, who had just come in, heard her saying this, and whispered loudly to his friends "Mum fancies him. He's all she ever talks about."

Mrs. Weasley heard him, but didn't do anything, because at that moment, Gilderoy Lockhart himself entered the store and was giving a speech. All around her, women were sighing and gazing at him, even Ron's friend Hermione looked a bit taken with him. _'I don't think there's anything special about him,'_ she thought. _'He's not bad to look at, but he's so old!'_ Ginny stopped paying attention and focused on her list of school books. Half of what she needed was written by Lockhart, but there were so many people around his books that she turned and looked for the others on her list. Putting a copy of 'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)' into her cauldron, she turned around to see Harry walking towards her with a big pile of books. The familiar blush rose on her cheeks,

Harry dropped the books into her cauldron. "Here," he said. "You have these. I'll buy my own." 

"Th-th-thank you, H-h-harry," she whispered, but Harry didn't seem to hear her. A boy with pale skin and blond hair had come up to them and was taunting Harry. Ginny felt herself fill with anger, and forgetting how nervous being around Harry made her, she looked the blond boy square in the face and said "Leave Harry alone. He didn't ask for all that attention!" That was the first thing she had said around Harry that wasn't a whisper or mumbled under her breath. 

The pale boy glared at Ginny, as if wondering why she dared to speak to him. "So, you've got yourself a girlfriend, eh Potter?"

At the word girlfriend, Ginny blushed more than she had blushed in her entire life. Harry just stared at the boy and didn't say anything, but Ginny would have crawled into a hole and died if she could have. Ron and Hermione were coming over, and judging by the looks on their faces, they didn't like this boy either. 

Seeing them, the boy snickered. "Weasley, didn't expect to see you here. Your parent's will most likely go hungry for a month to pay for that lot," he said, eyeing at the pile of books in Ron's hands. Ron looked as though he would have jumped on the boy if Hermione hadn't held him back. All the same, Mr. Weasley noticed the commotion and made his way over, as did who Ginny assumed to be the blond boy's father. His father looked to be just as mean and snarky as the boy was. 

The two adults greeted each other civilly, but it was obvious they didn't like each other. Her dad called the other man Lucius Malfoy, which meant that the boy was Draco Malfoy, who Ron was always talking about.

"You've been rather busy at the ministry, I understand, Arthur. I do hope they're paying you overtime." The man glanced around at Ginny and her brothers. His eyes fell on the second-hand transfiguration book in Ginny's cauldron. He reached out and pulled it out, holding it with two fingers, like it could make him sick. "Judging by this, I suppose they aren't. Just disgraceful." He spoke from between clenched teeth, hissing out his words.

Mr. Weasley turned a little red, and pursed his lips together. "We obviously have different opinions on what makes a man a disgrace." _'He must be hinting about Mr. Malfoy being a bad wizard.'_

"Clearly." Mr. Malfoy threw Ginny's battered old book back into her cauldron, grabbed his son by the shoulder and left the store. 

Mr. Weasley looked ashamed and shooed the children out of the shop. They returned to the robe shop, climbed into the fireplace one by one and went home. Mrs. Weasley and Percy stayed behind in Flourish and Blotts, one trying to get Lockhart's attention, the other reading a book entitled 'From Prefect to Head Boy: an Ambitious Boy's Guide.'

No one said anything as they lugged their purchases into their rooms. Ginny brought her many bags, boxes and bundles up to her third floor room and dropped them all onto her bed. It was a large pile, and it would take her at least an hour to put everything away. With a sigh, she began unwrapping the packages. The new robes were put into her wardrobe, and all of her equipment was put into her school trunk, ready for when she'd leave. Her books were the last things to be put away. Most of them were put on a shelf over her desk, but all the Lockhart books were put away in a drawer where she couldn't see them._ 'His smile is just so annoying sometimes!'_

The last book was sitting on her bed. Picking it up, Ginny looked it over_. 'Where did this come from?'_ She thought. The book had a green cover with etched gold corners, and the word 'Diary' was written on the cover in slanting gold letters. _'I don't remember buying this. Where could it have come from?'_ Ginny began to think over her day, to try and figure out where it came into her possession. _'We went to Flourish and Blotts, listened to Lockhart talk for a minute, I went around finding my school books, Harry put a bunch of books into my cauldron, - Harry! Harry must have given it to me! Harry gave me a diary! Does that mean he likes me? It must! Harry Potter likes me!'_ Ginny's thoughts whizzed through her head and her heart was pounding against her chest.

Opening the diary to the first page, she picked up her quill and wrote:

'Hello Diary, my name is Ginny Weasley.'

Her smiling face changed to one of confusion a second later as her words disappeared into the page and an invisible hand wrote a reply.

'Hello Ginny, my name is Tom Riddle.'


	5. The Diary

****

Chapter 5: The Diary

(~Previously~)

Her smiling face changed to one of confusion a second later as her words disappeared into the page and an invisible hand wrote a reply.

'Hello Ginny, my name is Tom Riddle.' 

A slight bit apprehensive, Ginny dipped her quill into the ink pot. 'Is someone there?' she wrote. _'My goodness. How silly am I to be talking to asking a diary questions!'_

Once again, her words evaporated into the page, and in their place came the words, 'Yes, I'm here.'

'How is this happening? Are you a ghost?'

'No, I am not a ghost. This is a very special sort of diary.'

'Are there many diaries that write back?'

'Not that I know of. This is a rather unique diary.'

__

'A unique diary. That would be expensive. Harry must really like me to buy me something expensive.'

'That's interesting. Have many people had this diary before me?' 

The book was in very good condition, but the fact that everything she wrote disappeared made her wonder about the possibility of previous owners.

'Only one other person has written in this diary. A boy during his school years.'

'Who was he? Was this a long time ago?'

There was a short pause before the diary answered, as if it was thinking about what to say. 

'It was a while ago, but I cannot tell you about him.'

'Why not?'

'You see, Ginny, a diary is made to tell secrets to. To confide in. I wouldn't be a very good diary if I told other people the secrets I possess.'

__

'Yes, that makes sense. I should have thought of that.' Ginny thought, absently opening a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans that was sitting on her desk. The first bean she pulled out was green. _'Just like the diary.'_ When she popped it into her mouth, the green bean was discovered to be a sour apple, not the worst flavour Ginny had ever encountered, but it was very sour and made her face scrunch up.

'Will you confide in me Ginny?' the diary was writing. 'Will you tell me your secrets?'

Without a second thought, Ginny put her quill to the page and wrote, 'Yes Tom, I'll tell you my secrets.'

'Good. Why don't you start by telling me about your family?'

Ginny began with her parents, telling Tom about her father's job at the Ministry and his love for Muggle things, and about her mother's over-protectiveness. Then she went on to tell Tom about her brothers. It took her so long to write about her brothers that she was barely finished with Ron when her mother called everyone down for supper.

'It's dinner-time now Tom. I have to go. I'll have to finish telling you about everyone later.'

'Have you got even more brothers?' Tom wrote back.

Ginny giggled. 'No, Ron's the last of my brothers, but I haven't told you about Harry yet.'

'Who's Harry?'

'Ron's friend, Harry Potter. I'll tell you about him after supper. I'll be right back.'

Ginny left the diary open on her desk and ran downstairs. Fred and George were going down as well, but paused outside Ginny's room. 

"Hey Fred, look. Ginny's already unpacked all her things."

"Already? We probably still have things to unpack from last year."

"Yeah, take a look." George walked into the room and pointed at the school books lined up on the shelf. 

"Merlin, she's getting more and more like Percy every day. She's been reading though her books as well." Fred gestured to the diary open on her desk, mistaking it for a school book.

"I don't think this is for school mate." The twins leaned over her desk and examined it. The pages were all blank, only the page the book was open to had writing on it. "I think it's Ginny's diary."

"Well, where's all her writing then?" Fred wondered. "Could it be like the Marauder's Map? Hidden until you say the right spell?"

"Maybe, but then all the writing would disappear, and there's still some here."

"What's it say?"

They turned back to the page Ginny had left the book open to. Written on the page were only four words. 'Harry Potter. How extraordinary.'


	6. Thank You's and Houses

****

Chapter 6: Thank You's and Houses

Ginny had only been writing to Tom for a couple weeks, but to her, it seemed like they'd known each other for years. He didn't mind if her tears fell onto his pages when she was upset, he always had a bit of advice to make a situation better, and best of all, he didn't mind if she talked about Harry a lot. He encouraged her sometimes, asking about how he came to be living with them, what he looked like, and so on. She was beginning to think of Tom as a girlfriend she could gossip with. One day she told him as much, and even then he wasn't upset with her. 

'I'm glad you know you can tell me anything Ginny,' he said. 'It means we're friends, and you know I would do anything for you.'

She had laughed and wrote back, 'Just like I would do anything for you Tom. Only, what can you do for me, since you're only a book?' Her hand shook from laughing as she wrote.

'I can do more than you could ever imagine, Ginny. You'd be surprised if you knew what I was capable of.'

__

'Silly Tom. Always joking and making me laugh!'

Ginny had such confidence in Tom, she almost always followed his advice. Only once did she disagree with him, but even then he wasn't really mad at her. It was on the evening of her discovery of the journal, when she had first told him about Harry.

'I suppose I should thank Harry for giving you to me, Tom. It was very sweet of him to get a present for me.'

'Ginny, you shouldn't say anything. He obviously wants it to be a secret that he gave me to you.'

'A secret? Oh Tom, be serious! Why would Harry want it to be a secret?'

'Well, because he just hid me among your school things. If he had wanted you to know he gave you a present, he wouldn't have hidden me. He would have handed me to you in person. Besides, what if Harry isn't the one who gave me to you after all? What if it was someone else?'

'Who else could it have been? I know Harry gave you to me, and whether or not he wants it kept a secret, I'm going to thank him.'

Without waiting for Tom's response, she stood up and went looking for Harry. She found him on the stairs going into the kitchen. Luckily, Ron wasn't with him. Summoning all her courage, Ginny called out to him.

"Harry. Can I talk to you for a minute?" 

Harry spun around with a surprised look on his face and stared at her. She had yet to talk to him directly, and was never alone with him. 

"Uh, yeah sure."

Ginny bit her lip and took a deep breath. _'Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought.'_

"I, um, just wanted to thank you for your gift. It was really nice of you to get it for me." She smiled a little bit to show him how happy she was. 

For once, Harry was blushing instead of Ginny. "It's no problem. How did you know it was me, though? I didn't leave a card or anything."

Ginny giggled. "I knew it must have been you. I thought over everything that happened today, and you were the only person who could have done it." Harry smiled at her. _'He has such a nice smile!'_ "I just wanted to make sure you know how much I appreciate it and that I'll treasure it always. I--"

Ron came up to the landing looking for Harry, and barely saw his sister's hair flying behind her as she ran back upstairs to her room.

"What was that about mate?" he asked.

"She came to thank me for the present I left for her." Harry said. 

Ron face changed from a laughing one to a deepening shade of red. "What present? Why'd you get Ginny a present?" 

"It's nothing Ron, don't worry." Harry said quickly, noticing the dark look forming on his friend's face. "I just wanted to get her something because she stood up to Malfoy when he was bugging me. I thought she was pretty brave to talk to him the way she did, when she hardly talks to anyone else. I thought she deserved something for being so nice to me - and so mean to Malfoy."

"Oh, ok then." He seemed to like the idea of rewarding people for being mean to Malfoy. "So what did you get her?"

"It was only a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, but she was acting like I left a hundred Galleons on her desk instead. Talking about treasuring them or something."

Ron laughed. "That's girls for you. Give a girl something and she acts like it's the end of the world. I handed Parvati Patil some pumpkin pasties at dinner once, and she stared at me for a week." 

'I thanked Harry, Tom. He was really nice, and he even smiled at me!' Ginny wrote when she returned to her room. 'That probably confirms that he likes me, doesn't it Tom?'

'Yes, I suppose so… but don't forget that he's older than you are. He may even have a girlfriend at Hogwarts.'

Ginny hadn't thought of that. 'Do you think he does?'

'It's very likely if he's as popular as you say he is. The odds are that you're not the only girl who likes him.'

__

'Why didn't I think of that before? He must have a girlfriend. Probably it's that Hermione girl. They always write such long letters to each other.' 'How can I find out for sure Tom? What should I do?'

'You'll have to watch him, Ginny. Watch what he does and who he spends time with. I can help you. Together we'll watch Harry and try to find out what his feelings are for you. Let me know the things you see and hear around you, and I'll help you.'

'You're so sweet Tom. I'm glad I have you to confide in.'

So Ginny began to tell Tom everything she knew about Harry, each day writing more than the day before. He always listened and asked her questions. There was nothing she didn't tell him, and by the time August was coming to an end, and the Weasleys began preparing to leave for school, Ginny was carrying the diary around in her pocket, so she could talk to Tom as often as possible. 

'I leave for Hogwarts tomorrow Tom. Can you believe it? I'm finally going to school!'

'You must be very excited. Are you nervous?'

'A little, but having you there with me will make everything perfect!'

'Yes, it has been years since I was at Hogwarts.'

Ginny was taken aback. 'When were you at Hogwarts Tom?'

'My previous owner went to Hogwarts, a long time ago.'

'Oh, I see. Will anyone there know who he was?'

'I very much doubt anyone would remember him. It was such a very long time ago.'

'Headmaster Dumbledore might remember him. Fred says Dumbledore has been working at Hogwarts for ages.'

A moment passed before Tom answered. 'Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts?'

'Yeah. Do you know Dumbledore?'

'No. I was just making sure I had his name straight. The headmaster of a school is an important person to remember.'

'Everyone tells me that Dumbledore is the best Headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen. He's supposed to be really nice, especially to the people in Gryffindor. I'll probably be in Gryffindor, you know.'

'Why do you say that Ginny?'

'Because everyone in my family is in Gryffindor. I don't know of a Weasley who wasn't in Gryffindor.'

'And do you want to be in Gryffindor? Is that the house you would pick for yourself?'

Ginny paused and thought about Tom's question. _'Would Gryffindor be the house I'd pick? Ravenclaw is probably a really good one too. But I don't think I'm smart enough to be a Ravenclaw.'_ 'I don't know which house I'd put myself in. But it doesn't matter, cause all Weasleys end up being Gryffindors anyhow.'

'All the Weasleys' Tom repeated. 'It's a pity to have to follow in the footsteps of so many. I would want to be in a different house than the rest of my family.'

Ginny was shocked. 'A different house than the rest of your family! Why would you want that?'

'Because then I would stand out from the rest and be more recognizable. I would be able to make my own way instead of following everyone else's. Don't you want that Ginny?'

'I don't know,' she wrote. 'I want to stand out and be liked for being me, but I wouldn't want to be away from my family. I love them all too much, even Percy. And besides Tom, Harry's in Gryffindor too. I wouldn't want to be far from Harry.'

'No,' Tom replied 'We wouldn't want to be far from Harry at all.'


	7. The Hogwarts Express

****

Chapter 7: The Hogwarts Express

The next morning, Ginny sat at her desk, writing to Tom. She was leaving to catch the Hogwarts Express in an hour, and she was beginning to feel homesick.

'How is it possible that you can be homesick before you even leave home?'

'I don't know. I keep thinking about things and it makes me sad.'

'Thinking of what things?'

Ginny sighed. 'Everything. Like, when I was making my bed I almost started crying because I kept thinking that I wouldn't be sleeping in it again for months and months. Everything I look at is making me sad cause I know I won't be seeing it until school lets out.'

'Don't worry Ginny. You'll feel better. Soon you'll be on the train to school and meeting so many new people that you'll be too busy to think about being sad. You'll probably too busy to even remember to write to me.'

Despite the tears that were threatening to run down her face, Ginny laughed. 'I won't forget to write to you Tom! I'll write to you all the time!'

'Do you promise?'

'Yes, I promise. You're so silly Tom.'

Despite Ginny's promise to write often, and the fact that the diary was almost always in her pocket, she came very close to leaving the diary at home. She had packed her trunk the day before, and had made sure everything was ready so she wouldn't have to rush that morning, but because she wanted to talk to Tom, she didn't pack the diary. She had been writing at her desk when Mr. Weasley yelled for everyone to bring their trunks down, and without thinking, Ginny left the book on her desk instead of putting it in her pocket as usual. 

She carried her trunk out to the car and helped her dad load it in with her brother's things, and before she knew it, everyone was in the car and driving away from the house.

"My diary!" she yelled. "I forgot my diary! We have to go back!"

Mr. Weasley was already getting nervous about missing the train, as they'd had to turn back once so Fred and George could get their fireworks. "We can send it to you dear. We don't want to miss the train."

"Dad, I need my diary! Please! We have to go get it!"

With a sigh and a glance at his watch, Mr. Weasley turned around and drove back to the house. Ginny jumped out of the car before it was even stopped and ran into the house and up to her room. The diary was sitting on her desk where had she left it. _'I can't believe I almost left you behind Tom!'_ she thought. She grabbed the diary, shoved it into her pocket and was back in the car 30 seconds later.

"Now, hurry Arthur. We'll miss the train," Mrs. Weasley was saying, but Mr. Weasley was already speeding down the street.

They arrived at King's Cross at ten minutes to 11 and by the time they reached the barrier, they only had four minutes to get on the train. Fred, George and Percy went through first, then Ginny ran through after them, followed by her mom and dad. Without waiting for Harry and Ron, they ran to the train to find her a compartment and get her luggage loaded. Finding an empty compartment, Ginny stuck her head out the window and yelled to her parents. 

"Where are Fred and George and everyone?"

"They said they were going to share a compartment with some of their friends, near the front of the train, dear. Percy's most likely in the Prefect's compartment, and Ron and Harry will be sitting with Hermione. You can go sit with them if you're nervous."

"I'm not nervous mum," she said indignantly. "I was just wondering is all."

"Alright then darling. Have a nice year!"

"Be a good girl!"

As the train pulled out of the station, her parents became smaller and smaller until she couldn't see them at all. 

__

'Be a good girl! I'm not a kid. I know what's right and wrong. I--' Ginny's thoughts were interrupted as the compartment door opened and Hermione stepped inside.

"Have you seen Harry and Ron?" she asked. "I haven't found them yet."

__

'Darn Hermione. Why does she always have to with Harry? She probably is his girlfriend.' 

"I haven't seen them. We were all running late and I ran through the barrier before they did, so I didn't see where they went."

Hermione smiled at her. "Ok, I'm going to go look for them. When I find them, we'll come sit with you if you want."

"Yeah sure, whatever you guys want to do is fine." Ginny pulled out her diary once Hermione left.

'I'm on the train to Hogwarts now Tom. In a few hours I'll be at school!'

'How exciting. Are you sitting with anyone right now?'

'No. Ron, Harry and Hermione are going to be coming to sit with me in a minute, but I'm all alone at the moment.'

'That's good. A diary is meant to be kept secret. No one should know you have it or see you writing in it.'

'I'll be careful Tom, don't worry.'

Ginny sat alone in the compartment for half an hour, writing to Tom, when the door opened again. _'Hermione's back!'_ she thought, trying to hide the diary behind her back.

"Well well. Look who we have here," a voice drawled from the doorway. Looking up, Ginny saw the boy from Flourish and Blotts leaning on the door frame. "If it isn't Potter's little girlfriend."

A deep blush spread on her cheeks and Malfoy smirked. "Go away Malfoy," she said as strongly as she could, but it came out as little more than a whisper. 

"No, I want to see what you were writing. Love poems to Potter, perhaps?" Malfoy lunged forward, reaching for the book she was still holding behind her back. She yelped and tried to keep it from him, but he was stronger and quicker than she was and soon had taken the book from her. 

"Oh, I see. It's your diary! Let's just take a little peek and see what you've written." Malfoy grinned at her, then opened the cover. A shower of green sparks flew out of the book and Malfoy dropped it in shock. "What on earth did you do to that thing?" he yelled. His fingers were red where he had touched the book, almost like they were burned. Without waiting for her to reply, Malfoy spun around on his heel and left the compartment.

Ginny bent over and cautiously picked up the diary. It wasn't hot and it seemed to be perfectly normal. She opened the cover. Nothing happened. Ginny grabbed her quill and began to write. 'What just happened Tom?'

'I could sense that you didn't want him reading me, so I protected myself and gave him a warning.'

'What exactly did you do to him?'

'I made the covers of the book become very hot so he wouldn't be able to touch them. The sparks were more for effect than anything else.'

'I didn't know you could do things like that Tom.'

'I can do a lot of things Ginny. More than you will ever know.'

'Like what? What sort of things can you do?'

Ginny didn't see his answer though, because the compartment door opened again and she hid the diary behind her trunk. Hermione came in with a worried look on her face.

"I haven't been able to find Ron and Harry anywhere. Have they come by here yet?"

"Nope. I haven't seen them. Maybe they walking around looking for you and you guys keep missing each other."

Hermione thought for a minute. "I suppose that could have happened," she said. "I'll just sit here with you for a while then, and let them find me." She settled herself on the seat across from Ginny.

Neither of the girls said anything for a couple minutes. Finally, Hermione thought of something to say. "So, are you nervous about starting school?"

"Not really. I'm more nervous about other things."

"Like what?" Hermione leaned forward a little bit. Her expression told Ginny that she was expecting something interesting.

__

'I guess this is as good a time as any, since Ron and Harry aren't here,' Ginny took a deep breath and looked at Hermione. "Well, I'm nervous about how to act. What if no one likes me? What if none of the guys want to be my boyfriend?"

Hermione smiled. This seemed to be just the interesting thing she was expecting. "You're a really nice girl Ginny. I'm sure loads of people are going to like you. You'll probably have a boyfriend in no time!"

"But what if I don't? I don't want to be the only girl without a boyfriend."

Hermione laughed. "You wouldn't be. Very few students date in the younger grades."

"Well, do you have a boyfriend?"

Hermione was really laughing now. "No! I don't have a boyfriend! Not even close, really."

A feeling of relief spread through Ginny. _'Good, Hermione isn't going out with Harry! But what if someone else is?'_ Ginny plastered a smile on her face. "What about Ron and Harry? Do they have girlfriends?"

"No," Hermione said. "Neither of them even looks at another girl! They probably don't even realize we're girls, you know."

__

'YES!!!' 

"That's kind of a relief. I don't know how comfortable I'd be hanging out with Ron and his girlfriend." Ginny smiled at Hermione. _'She really isn't that bad. She's nice, and she isn't treating me like a little kid.'_

"It would be kind of weird," Hermione agreed. She looked at her watch. "I think I'm going to go look for Ron and Harry again. I'll see you later."

"Ok. Bye." Ginny watched Hermione leave then pulled out the diary once again. 

'Tom! I was just talking to Hermione, that girl who hangs out with Ron and Harry, and she told me that Harry doesn't have a girlfriend! Isn't that wonderful?'

'Yes it's wonderful. You must be very happy Ginny.'

'I am! This day has been absolutely perfect! I'm going to school, Ron hasn't bugged me all train ride, and now I know that Harry definitely does not have a girlfriend!' 

The train began to slow down and Ginny looked out the window to see they were pulling into a station. 'Tom, we're here! The train is stopping! I'm --'

"Ginny! No one's seen Harry and Ron! I don't think they're on the train!" Hermione barged into the compartment before Ginny could hide the diary, but it was obvious that she was so anxious about the boys that she didn't even notice.

"What do you mean they aren't on the train?" Ginny was getting a little anxious herself. 

"None of our classmates have seen them, and even the Prefects have been looking and they can't find them."

"The Prefects are looking?"

"Yeah. Percy had found some of Ron's things in his trunk and went to find him and give them back, but he can't find him either. He ran into me in the hall, and I told him I haven't seen either him or Harry all this time, and now the Prefects are searching the whole train!" Hermione was speaking in a rush, and she was fiddling with her wand absent-mindedly. "You said they got on the train, right?"

"No, I didn't actually see them get on. I went through ahead of them, remember, and we were so late I just jumped on the train. I thought they were behind me. Do you think they missed the train? They could still be in London." The fact that she hadn't seen Ron and Harry all during the ride was beginning to bother her too.

"Well, if they missed the train, they probably went back home with your parents and will come tonight or tomorrow. Yes, I'm sure that's what they'd do." Hermione nodded to herself. "I'm going to go tell Percy what you said. You'd better get going. All the first years have to go to the castle with Hagrid." She left a second later. 

Wondering where Ron and Harry were, Ginny put the diary into a pocket inside her robe and pulled her trunk out of the train and onto the platform. She looked around for Hagrid, trying to remember what Ron said he looked like, but everyone around her was so tall she couldn't see a thing. Finally a voice yelling "Firs' years this way!" reached her ears, and she ran in it's direction.


	8. The Sorting

****

Chapter 8: The Sorting

Ginny made her way through the crowded platform towards the large Gamekeeper. His appearance wasn't nearly as startling to her as it seemed to be to the other first years, since Ron had told her all about him over the summer. Hagrid was easily twice as tall as she was, probably more, and rather wide around as well. Most of his face was hidden by a dark, shaggy beard, and his unkempt hair stood out around his head. His face looked a little worn, but his eyes sparkled and shone and he looked wild, but sort of tame at the same time. 

__

'He'll be a good friend, I think.' Ginny thought, as she listened to Hagrid telling them to get into some boats that were waiting at the side of a large lake. Ginny walked towards the nearest one, and sat on the plank of wood that served as a seat.

"Can I sit with you?" 

Ginny looked up to see a small blonde girl with short wavy hair and blue-green eyes looking nervously at her. She smiled. "Yeah, sure," she said. "My name's Ginny Weasley."

The girl climbed into the boat. "I'm Victoire Johnson. It's nice to meet you." 

"Nice to meet you too." 

Both girls were quiet as the boats all launched out into the lake and glided towards the large castle looming in the distance. _'Victoire is about a head shorter than I am,'_ Ginny mused. _'I wonder which house she'll be put into.'_

Ginny cleared her throat.

"So, um, do you know anybody here?"

Victoire shook her head. "No. I had some cousins who went here a couple years ago, but they've all graduated. I'm the baby of the family."

Ginny laughed. "Me too. Only, I have four of my brothers here with me."

Victoire stared at Ginny. "You have four brothers?"

"No, I have six actually, but Bill and Charlie have already graduated." Ginny giggled. Everyone always seemed a little shocked to find out how many brothers she had.

"Wow. Do you have any sisters?"

Now Ginny shook her head. "Nope. I'm the only girl. Bill's the oldest. He works as a curse-breaker in Egypt. Then there's Charlie. He was the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain when he was here, and now he works with dragons in Romania. They've both been gone for a couple years. Next is my brother Percy. He's a sixth year, and a prefect, and pretty much sticks to the rules. After Percy are Fred and George. They're twins and they pretty much break all the rules. They're fourth years. Last is my brother Ron. He's in his second year, and tends to break the rules a bit too, but for good reasons I suppose."

Victoire looked amazed. "That's so cool! Have they all been in the same house?"

"Yep. Everyone in the Weasley family gets sorted into Gryffindor, so that's probably where I'll be. Do you know which house you'll be in?"

"No. Each of my three cousins was put into a different house, so I can't really tell for sure."

"Did your parents go to Hogwarts?" This girl was nice and Ginny couldn't help but hope they would be in the same house.

"My dad did. He was in Hufflepuff."

"What about you mum? Did she go to a different school? Or was she a muggle?"

Victoire laughed. "Neither, actually! My mum's a squib! Can't do any magic, you know, so she couldn't go to Hogwarts, but her parents and my dad's parents were friends, so they were always together and after my dad graduated, he asked my mum to marry him."

"Is it weird that your mum's a squib? Do people tease you about it or anything?"

Victoire laughed again. "No, no one teases me about it. Her family is pretty well known in Ireland, and they're very influential, so most people don't say anything in case her family gets mad and does something to them. They really wouldn't do anything, but people seem to think they would, so they leave it alone. And mum being a squib is actually pretty cool. She already knew all about magic and all the wizarding stuff, so she doesn't stand out like a muggle parent would. She takes me shopping for my supplies and things like that."

"Wow, that's cool!" The girls talked the rest of the boat ride and were very good friends by the time the boats docked before the castle. 

"Come along! This way!" Hagrid was yelling, gesturing for all the first years to follow him to the castle's front doors. As Hagrid walked up to them, the great carved wooden doors opened and they stepped into a large hall.

"Professor McGonagall will be along shortly," Hagrid was saying. "Behave yourselves, and err, don't be nervous," he said, looking down at a small boy who was visibly quivering. The large man then left them alone in the hall, passing through another set of carved doors.

"Are you scared?" Victoire whispered to Ginny.

"A little. Are you?" Victoire nodded.

"You guys don't have to be scared." The girls turned around to see a tall blond boy standing behind them. "Once you're sorted, everything is fine. My brother told me all about it."

"Really?" Victoire asked. "How to they sort us?"

The boy leaned towards them and lowered his voice. "Most of the older students like to let us think that it's some painful procedure or test or something, but last year after my brother was sorted, he wrote home and said all they had to do was put on this special hat, and it tells us which house we're in."

Ginny and Victoire both let out a sigh of relief. Fred and George had told her that you found out which house you were in by pulling out one of your back molars and putting it into a potion that would change to the colour of your house. She hadn't really believed them, but it was still a relief to know that they were just kidding.

"I'm Alex Grate. Who are you?"

Ginny collected her wits and smiled. "I'm Ginny Weasley and this is Victoire Johnson."

"You guys can call me Toire if you want. All of my family does."

Before they could say anything else, the doors Hagrid had gone through opened with a creak and a very severe looking woman came towards the group of first years.

"Hello," she said. "I am Professor McGonagall, your Transfiguration teacher, and the Deputy Headmistress of this school. If you will follow me, we will begin the sorting and you can join your housemates."

Without another word, the professor turned around and walked back through the doors, closely followed by the first years, who were beginning to look very nervous. She led them into what was obviously the Great Hall, where four long tables were filled with students. At the front of the room, was another table, positioned so that the teachers who sat there could see all the students at one time.

Ginny's eyes were wide open, looking around at everything, from the enchanted ceiling to the ghosts that hovered around the tables. She didn't hear Professor McGonagall asking them to line up, and would have kept staring at a lovely lady ghost by one of the tables if Toire hadn't nudged her and pulled her into the line.

When all the first years were in a line across the front of the hall, the professor stepped forward and placed an old pointed hat gently on a stool which stood nearby. Everyone's eyes were watching the hat. _'Well, I guess Alex was right. It's just a hat.'_ Then the hat began to move, forming a sort of mouth, and it started to sing.

"I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,

I'm ragged, torn and old.

But I have brains inside of me,

And they work well, behold!

Of the four houses in this school,

It is my job to tell

To which one who are best suited,

In which one you should dwell.

First is the house of Gryffindor,

Begun by brave Godric.

The courageous stay together

Always through thin and thick.

Then those in happy Hufflepuff

Are always kind and good.

They try to find the best in things,

Like everybody should.

And in the house of Ravenclaw,

There's thinking and study.

And oftentimes, you will find

A Book is your best buddy.

Lastly, the house of Slytherin,

The proud silver and green,

Home of the strong and powerful,

As for years it has been.

Within this school, you'll find we've had

Many a mystery,

But we've overcome all troubles

Throughout our history.

At such times you must throw away

Your prejudices and greed.

Let in only love and goodness,

If you wish to succeed.

Trust in your friends and family

Always when you're in need.

Know that it's what's inside that counts

And forget about breed."

The Great Hall exploded with applause when the hat's song finished. It seemed like this was everyone's favourite part of the ceremony. 

When the applause had died down, Professor McGonagall stepped forward once again, holding a scroll in her hand. "When I call your name," she said, "I'd like you to come sit on the stool to be sorted. Fiona Allen." A girl with long brown pigtails walked over and sat on the stool. The large hat was put on her head, but it was many sizes too big and fell down almost to her chin. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the hat shouted out "SLYTHERIN!" Fiona hopped down from the stool and nearly ran to the Slytherin table, which was clapping and cheering.

Professor McGonagall continued down the list of her classmates, and eventually the process became a bit monotonous. Alex had been sorted into Hufflepuff and had sat down next to a boy who looked just like him. _'That must be his brother.'_ Toire was so nervous when her name was called that she slipped off of the stool before the hat was even placed on her head. She turned as red as a beet when she sat down again, and when the hat yelled out "RAVENCLAW!", Toire watched her feet the whole way to the Ravenclaw table, as if to make sure she didn't fall again.

The line of first years was getting smaller and smaller, until there were only half a dozen still standing there.

"Ginny Weasley."

Loud yells came from the Gryffindor table, and Ginny turned to see Fred and George waving their hats in the air and dancing a little gig. Ginny giggled and walked over to where the professor was standing with the hat. _'Well, this is it Ginny! You're going to be sorted in another couple seconds and - What was that!'_ Something big and green had just zoomed past the window!

"Miss Weasley!" Professor McGonagall seemed to be getting impatient. Ginny realized she had stopped while walking to the stool and that everyone was staring at her. One of the teachers noticed she was looking out the window. He stood up and left the Great Hall through a side door, with a look that could almost be described as glee on his face.

Ginny walked the rest of the way to the stool and sat down. Suddenly her stomach was filled with butterflies and she felt for the diary in her pocket for support. _'Oh Tom! I'm so nervous!'_ And then the hat was put on her head.

"Hmm, this is interesting," A small voice muttered into her ear. "Yet another Weasley, but there's something a bit different about you. Almost as if you're going through a change…Very odd. Now let's see…Which house would you be best in? You are brave and fairly courageous, but you're also quite cunning. Not a bad combination, but you're also very impressionable at the moment. I think I'll put you where influences will be good and help you along your way. I'll put you in GRYFFINDOR!!!"

The last word rang through Ginny's head, and in a daze she made her way to the Gryffindor table and sat down between Hermione and a boy she learned was named Neville. Fred and George sat across the table from her. _'They must have only heard which house I'm in. Best not to mention what the hat said. I'll talk it over with Tom later.'_ Ginny smiled at everyone and looked around at the people sitting near her. _'Wait, where are Ron and Harry?'_ Neither of the boys were sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Ginny leaned over to Hermione. "Where are Ron and Harry?"

Hermione shook her head in frustration. "I don't know. I asked Dumbledore if he knew where they were, and he just smiled at me and said that they would be here soon, so I shouldn't worry. None of the teachers seem to be worried, so I guess there's nothing wrong. So, what do you think of the Great Hall? Do you like the ceiling?"

Ginny listened half-heartedly as Hermione told her about everything she'd read about the Great Hall in a book called 'Hogwarts, a History'. _'I hope dinner is over soon. I have to tell Tom about what the sorting hat said. He'll tell me what it meant.' _ Ginny glanced at Hermione, who was babbling on and on about the company who made the house tables between sips of pumpkin juice. _'At least she doesn't need much encouragement, so I can think about other things instead of paying attention to her. She'd talk all night I think, and probably will.'_

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I want to thank glaurificus, LJ Fan, Lydia Malfoy and Lyra for reading and reviewing my story. Your comments are really appreciated! Thank you!


	9. Roommates

****

Chapter 9: Roommates

Ginny followed along behind her brother as he led the way to the Gryffindor common room. Actually, she followed so closely behind him, she stepped on his heels a couple times, causing him to say very loudly, "Ginny, if you cannot stop treading on my heels, I'll make you walk behind someone else!"

__

'Stupid Percy! What does he know? Fred and George are right, he is a stuck-up know-it-all. So pretentious and conceited. I'd be surprised if he actually has any friends. Seriously, who would want to spend time with him if they didn't have to?' Ginny fumed and looked at her feet as they continued through hallways and up staircases. She wasn't paying much attention to where they were going, and had no idea how she had gotten to the portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress which the group was standing in front of.

"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room," Percy was saying. "You will have to know the password to get in. Right now our password is 'animagus', but it will change every once in a while. Be sure to remember your passwords, or else you'll be stuck standing in the hall until someone comes by and lets you in."

Percy turned to the portrait and said the password. The woman in the silk dress nodded her head and the painting swung out from the wall, revealing a small opening. The first years followed Percy inside and found themselves in the middle of a large room filled with over-stuffed chairs and couches, with tapestries hanging on the walls and a large fireplace on the wall opposite of the door. Almost everything in the room was a shade of red, with gold accents. _'After seven years here, I don't think I'll ever want to see the colour red again!'_ Ginny thought. 

"Now, this is where you can study and talk to your friends. Curfew is ten o'clock, and we recommend you be in bed by eleven." Percy seemed to be enjoying himself as he told the first years the rules of the house. He was a good foot taller than they were, and stood with his hands on his hips like there was no one in the world that was more important than he was. "A list of the house rules is also posted on the bulletin board by the door, where you can find notices and messages from the teachers. It's very late, and you'll have all day tomorrow to acquaint yourself with the castle, so you should go to bed now. The boys' dormitories are up the stairs and to your left. The girls' are up the stairs and to the right. All of your belongings will be there waiting for you. Good night." 

The first years climbed up the stairs and went into their dormitories. There were five beds in the circular tower room, and Ginny's trunk was at the foot of the bed closest to the door. She climbed up onto her bed and smiled at the four girls she would be rooming with. 

"My name's Noelle Parker," the girl on the bed next to Ginny's said. She had very long black hair and green eyes that shone like emeralds. A small white cat was curled up on her pillow. 

"I'm Catherine Grate," the girl on the middle bed said. She had long, dark brown curly hair, blue eyes, and was a little skinny. Dark freckles dotted her face and arms in the shapes of constellations. 

The fourth bed was occupied by a girl with purple eyes and hair that was such a light shade of blonde it could have been mistaken for being white. "My name's Julia Becker." She smiled at them all and played with a strand of hair. She seemed to be very nervous.

"Amy MacArthur here. It's nice to meet you!" Her hair was long and curly like Catherine's, but was a rich red colour. She had brown eyes and a small bird sat in a cage next to her bed. 

"I'm Ginny Weasley." Ginny blushed and looked around the room. Now that they'd all introduced themselves, they couldn't think of anything to say. _'This is a bad start. We're going to be sharing a room for a whole year and we can't even find something to talk about.'_

It was evident that the other girls were thinking about that too. Finally, Amy thought of something to say. "So…your last name is Grate, you said?" she asked Catherine.

Catherine nodded.

"How's it spelled?"

Catherine spelled it. "Like a grate in the floor," she told them. "Not like, 'Wow, that's great soup'."

The girls all laughed. 

"It's kind of good it's not spelled the other way, cause then you'd be 'Catherine the Great'!" Amy and Catherine both laughed.

"That's how my mum meant it, actually. There's me, also known as Cat, and my brothers Affie and Alex, or rather, Catherine the Great, Alexander the Great and Alfred the Great. Mum liked the idea of using our surname to make a joke."

Ginny, Noelle and Julia stared at them blankly. "Who are they? The greats I mean." Noelle asked quietly.

"Oh," Catherine said, "They were famous muggle rulers. Catherine the Great was Empress of Russia in the 18th Century, Alfred the Great was King of England sometime in the middle ages, and Alexander the Great was this big hero who conquered a lot of people more than two thousand years ago. My mum loves muggle history!"

"Alex is your brother?" Ginny asked. "Are you twins?"

"Yeah, Alex is my brother. Do you know him? He was put into Hufflepuff, where Affie is too. We're not twins though. He was born in January and I was born in December, so we're technically in the same school year."

"That's cool. I met Alex in the hall before the sorting. My new friend Toire and I were really nervous and he told us there was nothing to worry about. He said your brother had written home last year and told you all about it."

"I wish I had known what they were going to do," Julia said softly. "I was so worried I almost started to cry."

"Well, I'm just glad it's over with!" Noelle said, lifting her cat off her pillow and putting him on her trunk. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."

The other girls agreed that it had been a long day and soon all the curtains were closed around their beds. Four of the girls were sound asleep before too long, but the fifth was wide awake.

Ginny was drawn her curtains closed like the other girls, but was busy writing in her diary. She couldn't remember the spell to make her wand give off light, so she had to squint to see what she was writing and Tom's responses.

'I'm worried about what the sorting hat said Tom. It said I needed good influences in my life and I was changing. It seemed to think there was something wrong with me!'

'There's nothing wrong with you Ginny.'

'Well, what about the part where he said I needed some good influences? Does that mean I've had bad influences before?'

'I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. It probably just meant that you could benefit from being around nice people, just like all girls your age could. Trust me, there have been no bad influences in your life. Your parents and your brothers are very nice people.'

'Yes, I suppose that's true.'

'Now, I don't want you to worry any more about it, ok? Why don't you tell me about your roommates? What are they like?'

'They're all nice I guess. Noelle's nice, and Catherine is Alex's sister. Julia seems really shy, and Amy seems really friendly. I don't know them too well yet.'

'What is your room like?'

'It's in a tower. There are five beds, and each one has a little table next to it. My bed is the first one in the room, right next to the door.'

'That's convenient.'

'How is it convenient, Tom?'

'Don't you see Ginny? You could sneak in and out without anyone noticing you. You could go for late night snacks or whatever you wanted.'

'Yes, that's true.'

'You should go to bed now Ginny. You wouldn't want to sleep through breakfast.'

'Yeah, you're right. Good night Tom.'

'Good night Ginny. Sweet dreams.'


	10. An Interesting First Day

****

Chapter 10: An Interesting First Day

Ginny was woken the next morning by the sounds of her roommates getting dressed. She had been up late writing to Tom and felt like she needed a few more hours of sleep. 

"Someone should wake Ginny up." Cat was saying. "She'll miss breakfast if she doesn't get up soon."

Amy stuck her head through the velvet curtains that hung around Ginny's bed. "You awake yet Ginny?"

Ginny groaned and opened an eye to look at Amy. "Yeah, I'm awake…I'm just tired."

Amy laughed and pulled Ginny out of bed. "We're all tired, but we want to see what they'll serve at breakfast. I'm soooo hungry!"

Cat threw some clothes in Ginny's direction. "Hurry and get dressed, we can all go together."

The next couple minutes were spent dressing, brushing her hair and wondering how her roommates could be so energetic so early in the morning. Before she even had time to tie her shoes she was being pulled out of the dorm and through the common room. Amy had a firm grip on her arm and was dragging her along. Cat was pulling Julia in the same way, and Noelle was walking behind them, looking like she wanted to laugh. 

__

'Merlin, Cat and Amy sure are alike! It's like they've known each other for years. Julia looks like she's half asleep. And like she wants to be anywhere but here. She must be really shy.'

Just as they reached the Great Hall, Ginny tripped over her untied shoelaces and fell on Amy, who somehow managed to pull Julia and Cat down with her. They landed in a big heap just inside the Hall. Everyone in the Hall turned to look at them and almost everyone was laughing. 

__

'What a great way to start the day!' Ginny thought, making her way out from underneath her laughing roommates. _'I wish I was back in bed.'_ Without looking at anyone, she made her way to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Fred. He didn't seem to notice she was there. He and George were talking about some plan they had for dying Lockhart's teeth a dark shade of yellow. They were oblivious to everyone around them as they debated whether it would be better to put the potion in his drink or to put it into some candy that a "fan" had sent. 

Her roommates, who had followed her to the table, sat down around her and started helping themselves to the different breakfast foods that were around them. Soon they were joined by Ron and his friends, Harry being one of them. 

"Where were you guys yesterday?" Ginny called down the table to them. Ron turned red and absently buttered some toast. 

"We, uh, ran into some trouble with the barrier and wound up fly here in Dad's car," he said.

"You _flew_?" Ginny had definitely not thought that was something that could have happened. "You guys are going to be in a lot of trouble!"

Harry laughed. "We already are. We both have detentions for tonight and letters have been sent to our families. Not like mine will care much. They'll just wish that we'd crashed or that the tree had hurt us more."

Ginny didn't even want to know what Harry meant by the tree hurting them more. "Ron, you're going to be in so much trouble! Mum is still mad that you drove the car to Harry's. Now she'll probably kill you!"

Ron smiled at her. "Don't worry Gin. She won't be too mad, and besides, we weren't expelled or anything. I won't be seeing her for another nine months, and she can't really do anything while I'm away at school."

Just then, the owls started swooping into the Hall with the student's mail. While Ron and Harry were laughing over their little adventure, and Hermione looked like she wanted nothing more than to give them a good lecture, an owl flew down and landed in front of Ron. In held a bright red envelope in it's beak. The whole table fell silent as Ron picked it up.

__

'Wow, Ron's gotten a howler! Someone must be really mad at him. I bet it's from mum.'

Ron's friends were trying to talk him into opening it. After a minute, he broke the seal. The envelope flew out of his hands and hovered in front of him. It reshaped itself into what looked like a mouth and loud shouts suddenly filled the Great Hall.

__

'Yep, that's mum's voice alright!' 

Ginny listened as her mother yelled at Ron for taking the car and told him that because he had been so stupid their father was facing an inquiry at work. The howler yelled and yelled for what seemed like an eternity and Ron sank further and further into his seat. Everyone in the hall was looking at him.

__

'Yikes, he must be really embarrassed. Goodness knows I would be.'

Ginny had barely thought about Ron's embarrassment when the howler all of a sudden turned in her direction. Her mother's voice continued on in a loud voice, but she didn't sound angry anymore. 

"And Ginny, dear," it was saying, "congratulations on getting into Gryffindor. We're so proud of you."

Her face flushed to the same shade as her hair and hiding underneath table seemed like a very good idea. She didn't notice if the howler said anything else, or if people were laughing at her. All she wanted to do was go back to her room and talk to Tom. 

She stood up and walked out of the Great Hall as elegantly as possible. Her head was held high and looked straight ahead, but once the doors closed behind her, Ginny ran towards the Gryffindor tower. But she didn't get very far. As she was turning a corner, she bumped into someone and fell for the second time in an hour. 

"Oh, hey Ginny!"

Toire and Alex bent down and helped her up. 

"How was your night?"

"Do you like your roommates?"

Ginny laughed and brushed off her robes. "I didn't get much sleep, but I do like my roommates. Actually," she said, looking at Alex, "I'm rooming with your sister."

"That's cool," he said. "Do you like her?"

Ginny nodded. "She told us all a funny story about how your mother named you all after famous rulers."

Alex laughed. 

__

'What a nice laugh he has. It's sort of like Harry's laugh' 

"Yeah, that's Cat's favourite story. She's always looking for an excuse to tell people about it."

"So," Ginny said, "How do you guys like your roommates?"

"Well enough, I suppose," Alex said. "I haven't really talked to any of them yet. We all went to bed right after we got there."

"Same here," Toire said. "I did make one friend though. Her name's Michelle Brave. She's really nice. Our mum's were friends when they came here, but I'd never met her before."

"We were thinking that we'd all meet out by the lake after dinner and hang out. You want to come?"

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to!"

"Cool," Toire said. "We're going to have breakfast. Have you already eaten?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll see you guys after dinner."

Alex and Toire walked in the direction of the Great Hall and Ginny continued on her way to the dorm. Talking to her friends had cheered her up and made her forget her embarrassment, but she still felt like she needed to talk to Tom.

~~~

'I'm making friends already Tom! After dinner Toire, and Alex and I are going to hang out by the lake,' she wrote. 'Toire said she was going to bring one or two of her roommates too. It's so nice to have friends.'

'Am I not one of your friends Ginny? I would do more for you than any of them would.'

'Ha ha. Are you jealous Tom? You know you're my best friend. No one's as good a friend to me as you are. There's no one like you.'

'Well, I suppose you are right about that.'

'There's nothing for you to worry about. We'll be friends forever Tom.'

'Forever?'

'Yes Tom, forever. We're best friends. Oh, but I have to go meet Toire and Alex now. I'll tell you all about it later!'

Ginny closed the diary and ran out of her room. She had been writing to Tom nearly all afternoon and had missed lunch. It was a good thing that they didn't have classes that day or she might have missed those too. When she was talking to Tom is was almost like she had no comprehension of how much time was passing. 

When she reached the Great Hall, Toire and Alex weren't there. In fact, most of the students had already finished eating and were just talking to their friends. Without sitting down, Ginny took a couple apple turnovers from a dish on the Gryffindor table and left to go to the lake. 

Alex, Toire and a couple people she didn't recognize were sitting under a tree by the lake. They were laughing and joking about something.

"Hi guys! I'm sorry I'm late." Ginny said, sitting down next to Alex. 

"Where were you?" Toire asked. "We didn't see you in the Great Hall at dinner and when Alex's sister came by a couple minutes ago she said she hadn't seen you all afternoon."

"Oh, I was in my room writing to, I mean, writing in my diary." Ginny took a bite out of one of her turnovers.

"That's cool," Alex said. "Anyway, this is Michelle Brave and Affie, my brother. Michelle's in Ravenclaw with Toire, and Affie's in Hufflepuff. He's a beater on our Quidditch team."

Ginny smiled at them. Michelle had long, dark brown hair and brown eyes and wore blue rimmed glasses that gave her a studious look. She was about the same height as Ginny. Affie was tall and blond like his brother. They looked so alike they could have been mistaken for being twins. 

"I'm Ginny Weasley. I'm in Gryffindor."

"Cat told us about you at dinner," Affie said. "She said you were nice, and had a bunch of brothers here."

Ginny smiled. _'It always comes back to them doesn't it?'_ "Yeah, I have four brothers here right now, and two who've graduated."

"Do you like having so many brothers?" Michelle asked her. 

"Well, it's not much fun sometimes, but they're all really nice, so I guess it isn't too bad." 

"I know your brother Ron." Affie told her. "I had Charms with him last year. He had his friend Harry are both pretty cool."

"Yeah, I suppose they are." Ginny took another bite of her turnover. "So, uh, what were you guys talking about before I got here?"

Toire laughed. "Affie was telling us about Professor Snape. Apparently he only washes his hair, like, once a month!"

"And he has really bad breath!"

The group laughed and talked about various professors. Affie knew the most about them, as he was a second year and had been taught by them. Before long the sun was starting to set and they began to think about going back to the castle. None of them wanted to leave though.

"--So anyway, Flitwick was teaching us how to make things levitate, and this guy Peter didn't aim properly, and the next thing we knew, Flitwick was floating above his desk and everyone was laughing so hard we couldn't get him down! Someone finally ran for McGonagall, but he must have been floating there for a good ten minutes at least. Needless to say, Flitwick kept far away from Pete's wand after that!"

Ginny laughed along with everyone else, but stopped as something strange echoed through her head.

__

'Ginny…Ginny…'

No one else seemed to have heard anything. 

__

'Ginny…I need you to come here…'

A voice was calling her. Who was it? Was -- Tom! Tom wanted her!

"I, uh, I'll see you guys later. I have to go, um…I have to go find my…brother." Ginny stood up and ran towards the castle, leaving her friends staring at her as she ran away. 

Something weird was going on and Ginny had to know what it was. Tom had never called to her before. Something was definitely going on. Ginny didn't stop running until she was in the Gryffindor common room. She had to get to Tom.

__

'Ginny…You have to do something for me…'


	11. A Strange Dream

****

Chapter 11: A Strange Dream

__

'Ginny…You have to do something for me…'

Tom's voice was pulling her towards him. She had to get to him right away! She--slam! She fell again. _'Why do I keep running into people?'_

"Oh, hi Ginny!" Hermione helped Ginny to her feet then began picking up all the books she'd dropped when Ginny hit her. "I'm going down to the library to do a bit of reading for my classes. Do you want to come?"

Classes didn't even start until tomorrow and Hermione was already doing research. _'What a bookworm.'_

'Ginny…'

"Uh, no thanks Hermione," she said. "I, uh, I've got to…" 

Without even finishing the sentence, Ginny ran upstairs to her dorm, leaving a confused Hermione standing alone in the common room. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just like Ron," she muttered. "Can't even come up with a good excuse for going." 

Ginny pulled the diary out from her trunk and opened it.

'Tom, I've just had the weirdest feeling! It was like you were calling me. Pulling me to you.' Ginny scribbled into the diary so fast that her letters blurred together and ink blots filled the page. 'What's going on Tom? Did I imagine it all?'

'I did call you to me, Ginny. You didn't imagine it.'

'How did you do it Tom? You're just a diary.'

'I am not just a diary! We've developed a bond, you and I. We've become closer than you can even imagine. We're linked together by magic. When I want you to come to me, you can hear me calling you.'

This information stunned Ginny. 'How is that even possible?'

'The link we share connects us, no matter where we are, so I can call you whenever I want you.'

'Oh, I see. Can I call you too?'

'You have no need to call me. Any time you want me, you can come and get me out of your trunk. I don't have the luxury of being able to go get you, so I need a different way of getting your attention.'

This all seemed logical to Ginny. She could, after all, write to Tom whenever she felt like it. 'So, how come you haven't called to me before? I've been writing to you for over a month now.'

'It takes time to form a link strong enough for these sort of things. You saying we were best friends helped to cement the bond.'

'Really? That's so cool!' Ginny was so excited at the prospect of her and Tom being even better friends. 'So why did you call me here this time Tom? Was it just to test if you could do it?'

'It was partly for that reason. And for another reason.'

'What reason is that, Tom?' 

'I've been wondering about something lately. Being at Hogwarts has made me start to remember some places that my previous owner told me about and I keep thinking about how nice it would be to visit those places again.'

'What sort of places are they?' Tom had never told her anything about the boy who had owned him before she did. He was very strict about keeping secrets and every time she would ask about the boy, Tom would change the subject. This was the most he had ever mentioned about him, and she was eager to learn more.

'Just places he used to go around the school. Empty classrooms, hidden passageways, the sort of places he would spend time with his friends or write to me.'

'Wow, so what is it that you want then?'

'I wonder, would you do something for me, Ginny?'

Without hesitation, Ginny wrote back. 'Sure Tom, anything.'

__

Ginny left the dormitory, holding the diary tightly in her left hand. The connection between herself and Tom absorbed her, and she could almost feel him around her. He seemed to be everywhere, gently leading her along the hallways. She didn't pass a single person as she walked, following her feet to an unknown destination. She had lost all concept of where she was going, but it didn't matter. Tom knew where to go. He would make sure everything was alright. 

Shortly, Ginny found herself in one of the girl's bathrooms. Her reflection greeted her as she looked into the mirror over a sink, but she seemed oblivious to it. Without even realizing she was doing it, Ginny began to speak in a soft voice, asking the sink to open up. It didn't matter that she spoke in a different language, or that it was stupid to ask a sink to open, because the sink did open. It sank down into the floor and revealed a large pipe. 

Ginny climbed into the pipe and slid in, falling down the slimy pipe into the depths of the school. It twisted and turned, and had Ginny's mind been what it usually was, she would have been getting very dizzy, but instead her mind seemed strangely clear. 

The pipe ended in a damp stone cavern, dropping Ginny onto the rough floor. Her knee scraped against the rock and began to bleed a little, but Ginny didn't notice. 

On the other end of the cavern, barely visible in the dim lighting, was a round metal door. Something inside of her told her to get to the door, and when she was right in front of it, she could see snakes on the face of the door. Speaking again in the strange language, the door unlocked and swung open, revealing another cavern. 

This cavern was much larger than the one before it. Large carved stone snakes lined the walls, and at the very end, a man's face was carved into the stone. Ginny walked the length of the room, her shoes and socks getting wet from the puddles of water on the floor. She came to a stop directly in front of the man's face and spoke again. 

The man's mouth began to open and Ginny closed her eyes. She didn't need them to be open to know what was going on. She could sense everything, and even see it somehow. Even with her eyes closed tightly, she could see the mouth opening. She could see something crawling out…

Ginny woke up with a start, gasping for breath. She was lying on her bed, all alone in the dormitory. She had just had the most interesting dream. It was so strange…


	12. A Distracting Sort of Morning

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Chapter 12: A Distracting Sort of Morning

Without getting out of bed, Ginny rolled over and pulled her diary out from between the bed frame and her mattress. It had been Tom's idea that she keep the diary hidden, instead of just keeping it in her trunk like she had planned on doing. The thought of keeping the diary hidden seemed to make sense, so she didn't question him about it. Diaries are supposed to be kept secret after all. 

She fumbled for some ink and a quill and began to write.

'Oh Tom, I have to tell you about the dream I just had. It was so eerie. I was all alone, walking through the school, but somehow you were there too. I couldn't see you or hear you, but I knew you were there. I could feel you near me.'

'What happened in your dream Ginny?'

Ginny paused and concentrated on the dream. Her memories of it were becoming vaguer and vaguer by the minute.

'I'm not really sure what was happening. I remember that I was walking through the school and all the corridors were dark. I didn't meet anyone and it seemed like the school was deserted. It was so quiet. It's getting harder to remember all the details. There was something about water, or maybe a faucet. And a face. I remember a something about a face.'

'A face? What did it look like?'

'I couldn't even describe it. I can only remember that it scared me. There was something in it that made my blood run cold. I wish I could remember what it was that scared me.'

'I wouldn't worry about it. It was only a dream. Nothing to be frightened of.'

Ginny smiled. 'Of course. It's silly of me to be scared of a dream. I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm eleven. I'm growing up. I can't believe I was so childish.'

'Everyone has bad dreams Ginny. It's best to just forget about them. Nothing about them is real.'

'You're right Tom. I--'

"Ginny? Are you awake?"

Ginny snapped the diary shut and looked up. Julia was standing in the doorway of the girl's dormitory. 

"Yeah, I'm awake." Ginny slid the diary under her pillow so Julia couldn't see it.

The smallest hint of a smile flitted across Julia's face. "Oh, that's good. I thought I would come and make sure you were up for breakfast before Cat and Amy decided to come for you."

The image of being dragged to breakfast the previous morning went through Ginny's mind. She definitely didn't want that to happen again. "Thanks Julia. That's nice of you."

Julia nodded and left the dormitory. 

__

'She doesn't talk much, does she?' 

Ginny quickly got dressed and put on her school robes, tucking the diary into her pocket. She had left it in her room yesterday and had missed having it with her. The familiar feeling of the diary pressing against her hip when she walked. Knowing that she could stop and write to Tom whenever she thought of something. She missed the sense of security having it nearby gave her. 

Ginny went downstairs and walked towards the portrait hole in the common room, smiling and patting her pocket. She was stopped halfway there by a chubby boy who was a little taller than she was. 

"I, um, you're, err, I mean," the boy stopped and cleared his throat. "Are you Ron's little sister?"

Ginny nodded her head. "I'm Ginny Weasley." The poor boy seemed so nervous. She felt a bit bad for him. "Are you one of Ron's friends?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm, well, my name is Neville Longbottom. We're in the same year."

"You're Neville? Ron and Harry were talking about you over the summer. They said you were one of their roommates and that you won Gryffindor the house cup last year."

When Ginny mentioned the house cup, Neville's face turned as red as a beet and he looked at his shoes. "Oh, well, you see, I really didn't do anything," he said quietly. "Dumbledore probably just gave me those points because he felt bad for me."

"Are you mad? I'm sure Dumbledore would never give someone points unless they deserved them."

Neville didn't say anything, but he smiled and his face lost a lot of it's red colour.

"I'll see you later Neville. I should get to the great hall before breakfast ends." 

Ginny turned to leave when Neville spoke again.

"Uh, Ginny, welcome to Hogwarts."

Her heart went out to him and without thinking she gave him a quick hug. "Thank you Neville. That's very nice of you."

He stood there muttering about breakfast and neckties under his breath, his face once again a bright red colour. "Uh, you should go…don't want to miss breakfast…I'll, um…bye." Neville rushed past her and left the common room, leaving a smiling Ginny behind him. 

__

'Poor guy. He sure gets flustered easily. I only hugged him. It was awfully nice of him to welcome me though. I'll have to remember to be nice to him.' Laughing over Neville's actions in the common room, Ginny walked to the great hall. _'Wait until I tell Tom about Neville. He should enjoy hearing about him. He liked it when I told him about Harry and my brothers.'_

Just outside the doors of the great hall, someone grabbed Ginny's wrist and pulled her into a smelly empty classroom. Before she could say anything the person turned her around and she was face to face with a very angry, very dishevelled, very stinky Percy.

"What on earth are you doing?" she yelled, holding her arm. "You could have sprained my wrist!" 

Percy's appearance and the stench became too much to bear. Ginny's nose crinkled up and her hands quickly flew to her face, trying to block out the odour.

"What is that smell?"

"That's exactly what I want to know! Fred and George are obviously behind it but I can't find them anywhere. And I definitely can't go into the great hall like this. What sort of impression would it make to have a school prefect as the butt of a joke? I'm a prefect and this is completely undermining my authority!"

__

'Prefect…that's what it is! Fred and George must have perfected their stink ink!'

"I'll need you to get me some food," Percy was saying. "A couple muffins or something, and maybe some marmalade, or grape jelly, because I am certainly not setting foot in the great hall smelling like this."

"Alright, I'll be right back Percy." Ginny opened the door, relieved to breathe fresh air again. 

"And if you see Fred and George tell them that the second this smell goes away, I will personally ensure that they are given detention for a month!" Percy called after her. "Oh, and bring me some pumpkin juice too!"

Nodding her head, Ginny shut the door behind her and went into the great hall. Students were chatting and eating and looking at slips of parchment. _'Yay, our class schedules!'_ Ginny's heart gave a leap and she rushed to the Gryffindor table, finding a seat next to Ron.

"Oy, here's your schedule," he said, handing her a piece of parchment. The second she took it from him, Ron turned back to Harry and Hermione and seemed to forget Ginny was even there. 

Ginny glanced at the page then put it in her pocket next to the diary. Her first class didn't start for an hour, so she had time to relax a bit. 

"I don't suppose anyone has seen Percy this morning?" someone behind Ginny said.

"We hear he's in a real stink about something," said another voice.

Ginny looked over her shoulder to find Fred and George juggling bottles of ink and smiling like Cheshire Cats. Ginny couldn't help but laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N - Once again, thanks go out to everyone who's reading my story, and special thanks to my reviewers…You guys are the absolute best. Thank you so much for pointing out problems with my story. I appreciate it so much! Everyone is so nice about it all. So anyway, thanks to Jedi Amoira, Briana Marie, LJ Fan, glaurificus, me, Ferret, Paradox-of-Existence, Mrs. Fawkes, Mogain Lestrange, Eizoku, Lyra and Lydia Malfoy (the best reviewers in the world, well, in my opinion at least lol). And don't worry Briana Marie, Luna is coming up, probably in the next chapter. Thanks for reminding me about her…I had forgotten. *Lina hangs her head in shame and apologizes profusely to all the Luna fans out there*


	13. AN and Chapter 12 and a Half

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Author's Note

Hey Everyone! I'm so sorry about the delay in posts. I've been semi-grounded (basically, all use of the computer has been revoked) and I'm having a hard time trying to sneak on the computer when my parents aren't home…and when I can get on, there are a lot of things that have to be looked after for my magazine and web sites and all that stuff, so my poor fanfic gets pushed to the back burner. I did write a small chapter-ette a couple days ago, Chapter 12 and a Half, which is told from Percy's point of view. For now, I'm going to put it here, but once Chapter 13 is written, I'll probably move 12 and a Half to the bottom of Chapter 12's page (I like to keep the page numbers the same as the chapter if possible ~ I'm a geek, I know lol) 

So anyway, the moral of this whole note is that I'm still working on Transfixed and I have absolutely no plans of giving it up. I'm just having a bit of trouble finding the time to write, so I'm going to have to ask you all to be patient with me.

Thanks a lot!

~Lina~

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Chapter 12 and A Half: Poor, Poor Percy

Percy Weasley waited in the empty classroom for what seemed like an eternity. His sister Ginny was supposed to be bringing him some food from the Great Hall, but it should not have taken her this long to get a couple muffins and come back. He knew he should have asked someone else for help. 

Penelope Clearwater had walked past his hiding spot a couple minutes before Ginny, and Percy would have loved the excuse to talk to the pretty Ravenclaw. The only thing that stopped him was the smell. The dreadfully pungent smell that wouldn't go away, no matter what he tried. He'd attempted cleansing spells and perfume charms, and every other possible spell he could think of, and nothing made the smell go away. Then he tried everything else that popped into his mind. He'd changed his robes, opened the window for some fresh air…he'd even dumped a pitcher of water over his head. But nothing made the smell go away. Now he was really mad. 

And hungry.

Where was Ginny, anyway? No matter how slow she walked and how many people she stopped to talk to, she should have gotten back by now. 

Percy resumed his watch for his sister, kneeling down and peering through the keyhole in the door. He was able to see the doors to the Great Hall and a bit of the hallway that lead to the classrooms. Some of the students were already leaving for class, reminding Percy of the time. He absolutely could not miss his first class of the year. He was a prefect, after all! What sort of impression would that make on the other students? He was a role model for them and because of the smell that was making him gag he would become the joke of the school. No one would take him seriously after this. And he was a Prefect!

Percy watched as Ron, Harry and Hermione walked out of the Great Hall and turned down a hallway. They made no indication that they knew he was hidden there, which meant that Ginny at least didn't tell them about him. And if she didn't tell them, she probably didn't tell anyone. Ginny was a good girl. She wouldn't do anything to embarrass him. She respected him, and probably looked up to him. At least Fred and George hadn't corrupted her against him like they had done with Ron. Ginny wouldn't cause trouble at Hogwarts like they had. She wouldn't let the twins get her in trouble.

Then Ginny herself came out of the Great Hall, followed closely by Fred and George. They were all laughing and kept glancing towards the room he was hiding in. Ginny must have told someone after all! But before he could do or say anything, the door was pulled open and Professor McGonagall stood staring down at him.

"Mr Weasley!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing in here? Explain yourself!"

Fred, George and Ginny just laughed harder and walked away, leaving a horrible smelling Percy trying to explain why he had such a terrible odour surrounding him.


End file.
